Externally engaging lifting jack frame



Jan. 24, 1967 J. K. STEWART 3,299,833

EXTERNALLY ENGAGING LIFTING JACK FRAME Onginal Filed May 20, 1963 3 Sheets-Shem 1 35 JOHN K. STEWART BY JMQ 51 INVENTOR I ATTORNEYS Jan. 24, 1967 J. K. STEWART 3,299,833

EXTERNALLY ENGAGING LIFTING JACK FRAME Orlginal Filed May 20, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet- 2 WWW JOHN K. STEWART BY @ZM/JE ATTORNEYS.

1967 J. K. STEWART EXTERNALLY ENGAGING LIFTING JACK FRAME 3 Sheet -Sheet 3 Original Filed May 20, 1963 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Claims. cl. 104-7 This application is a continuation of my application Serial No. 281,656, filed May 20, 1963, now Patent No. 3,230,895. In that application, there is described and claimed a track jacking device for railroad maintenance of way vehicles and particularly a means operated by a ballast engaging element for controlling the operation of the jacking device.

The present invention relates to a track jacking device which has track engaging-clamps mounted on a railroad vehicle and ballast engaging jacks mounted externally of the vehicle and it is an object of the invention to provide means which readily permit transverse relative movement between jacks and vehicle frame.

According to the present invention, the ballast engaging jacks are mounted on a telescopic frame and are provided with fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder means which provide the relative movement of the jacks in relation to the frame.

According to a feature of the invention, rail engaging clamps are provided for each rail and comprise a pair of co-operating hook elements pivotally attached to a frame, fluid pressure means being provided to move the hook elements to open and close the clamps and a toggle link for each hook element connected to a hook element midway along its length and to an operating element of an associated piston and cylinder means, the toggle link being adapted to lock vertically when the hook engages the ball of the rail.

The following is .a description by way of example of one embodiment of the present invention reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a jack showing a ski member;

FIGURE 2 is a front view partly in section showing the jacks retracted inwardly into the transportation position and lifted out of engagement with the ballast;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detail looking in the same direction as in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is an underneath plan view illustrating rail clamping means.

Turning now to the drawings:

The main vehicle frame has a cross member 11 and is braced by bracing members 12 and carries a sub-frame 14 mounted for up and down movement relative to the main frame 10 under the action of a hydraulic piston and cylinder 16. The sub-frame 14 comprises a cross head 14a, side members 14b depending therefrom, support member 140 extending between the side members 14b, brackets 14d on the support member 14c and suspended from the support member, a main cross member 18 which rests on rail engaging wheels 19 (FIGURE 3) mounted on bearing members 1% (see FIGURES 1 and 4) attached to the under side of member 18 when the subframe is lowered. The main cross member 18 is of boxlike construction formed of two side channels 18a and top and bottom plates 18b. The lifting jacks 20 are mounted on telescopic slides 21 slidable within the boxlike construction of the member 18 under the action of hydraulic piston and cylinder means 22 (the right hand means 22 being seen in FIGURE 3) connected on the one hand to bracket 21a of the slide and on the other 3,299,833 Patented Jan. 24, 1967 '1 ice hand to a fixed frame member 21b. The jacks 20 move between a retracted transportation position as seen in FIGURE 2 in full lines and a selected ballast engaging operating position as shown in the dotted lines in FIG- URE 2. It will be appreciated that the degree to which the jacks 20 are moved outwardly of the rails 30 depends upon the nature of the ballast in which the vehicle is operating.

The jacks 20 each have jack rods 25 provided with clevices 26 which engage the web 27 of the ski members S and a pivot pin 28 pivotally mounts the ski member on the jack rod.

The ski member S has a plate-like ballast engaging shoe 32 and upturned leading and trailing shoes edges, the

web 27 upstanding from the top of the shoe 32. The ski member S is shown in FIGURE 1 eccentrically mounted on its pivot pin 28, that is the leading edge 32 of the ski member is shorter than the trailing edge 33 and therefore the superior weight of the trailing edge 33 will cause the ski member to be biased in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 1, about its pivot pin 28. Clearly this biasing could be arranged by weighting the trailing edge 33 or providing a spring 34 01' some other suitable means which would insure that when the ski member is out of jacking engagement with the ballast 35 it should tend to move under its bias angularly about the pivot pin 28 in the vertical plane so that when there is no jacking pressure exerted on this ski and it is substantially clear of the ballast the ski member swings until its web 27 or other part of the ski member will trip a microswitch 40.

The operation of the micro-switch 40 and its controlling effect on the jack 20 is described in my co-pending application 281,656, now Patent No. 3,230,895 and forms no real part of the present invention.

Each clamping device C comprises a pair of hook members 36, 36' pivotally mounted at pivot points 37 on the sub-frame 18. Beneath the sub-frame 18 there is provided a pair of floating hydraulic jacks 41 and 41A (see FIGURE 2) to the ends of which are attached slides 46, 47, 48, 49. Links T (FIGURE 3) connect the slides 46, 47 to the outer hooks 36 and links L connect the slides 48, 49 to the inner hooks 36'. The jack 4'1 contracts and pulls the slides 46, 47 and the links T, thereby closing the hooks 36 against the rail. Jack 41A extends and pushes slides 48, 49, moving links L and thereby closing the clamps 36 against the rail. In this locked position the backs of the hooks bear against bushings B located about the pin connections between the links and slides and in this fashion, any tendency of the hooks to be forced open during lifting of the rails 30 is opposed.

For track transportation the jack 16 is operated to raise the sub-frame 18 up into the main frame 10.

When a track lifting operation is to be conducted, the sub-frame 18 is lowered onto the rails 30 on its wheels 19 and the cylinders 22 are operated to extend the telescopic slides 21 and to move the jacks 20 out into operative position relative to the rails 30. The jacks 20 are operated, when a lifting operation is actually required and the ski members S move down into lifting engagement with the ballast whilst the cylinders 41 and 41A are operated to clamp the sub-frame to the rails. When the operation has been completed the clamps are released and the jacks 20 operated to lift the ski member S out of jack ing engagement with the ballast 35.

What I claim is:

1. A railroad track jack apparatus mounted on the frame of a track working vehicle, comprising track engaging elamps, a pair of transversely spaced jacks mounted one on either side of the vehicle externally thereof, each jack having .a ballast engaging member adapted to engage the ballast externally and on each side of the track rails, means for raising and lowering the ballast engaging member into and out of engagement with the ballast; a telescopic sub-frame on the vehicle, means for mounting the jacks on the telescopic sub-frame and piston and cylinder means for each jack to relatively, slidably move the jacks and vehicle frame transversely of one another.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for raising and lowering the ballast engaging member into and out of engagement with the ballast comprises .a piston and cylinder arrangement; and wherein the means adapted to relatively move the jacks and vehicle frame transversely of one another comprise fluid pressure piston and cylinder means located on the sub-frame.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the track engaging clamps comprise rail engaging clamp members for each rail which clamp members comprise a pair of co-operating hook elements pivotally attached to the said sub-frame.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the track engaging clamps comprise rail engaging clamp members for each rail which clamp members each comprise a pair of co-operating hook elements pivotally attached to \a frame, fluid pressure means being provided to move the hook elements to open and close the clamps and a link 25 for each hook element connected to a hook element midway along its length and through a bushing to an operating element of an associated piston and cylinder means, each link locking vertically with its bushing bearing against the back of its associated hook element when that hook element engages the ball of the rail.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the piston and cylinder means which relatively move the jacks and vehicle frame transversely of one another provide for retraction of the jacks close to the vehicle frame for track transportation and extension of the jacks transversely outwardly of the vehicle frame to a selected lifting position dictated by the nature of the ballast in which the vehicle is operating.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,926,617 3/1960 Kershaw 104--7 3,101,676 8/1963 Plasser et al. 104-7 3,119,346 1/ 1964 Derler 104-7 FOREIGN PATENTS 753,732 4/ 1933 France.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. I

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A RAILROAD TRACK JACK APPARATUS MOUNTED ON THE FRAME OF A TRACK WORKING VEHICLE, COMPRISING TRACK ENGAGING CLAMPS, A PAIR OF TRANSVERSELY SPACED JACKS MOUNTED ONE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE EXTERNALLY THEREOF, EACH JACK HAVING A BALLAST ENGAGING MEMBER ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE BALLAST EXTERNALLY AND ON EACH SIDE OF THE TRACK RAILS, MEANS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING THE BALLAST ENGAGING MEMBER INTO AND OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BALLAST; A TELESCOPIC SUB-FRAME ON THE VEHICLE, MEANS FOR MOUNTING THE JACKS ON THE TELESCOPIC SUB-FRAME AND PISTON AND 